It is that time of year again… time for the Pictures of the Year International (POYi) judging. Once again, I am a coordinator for the contest and I will be spending the next three weeks in a very dark room watching some of the best photos in the world flash before my eyes. This year, we have moved the judging to the swanky, new, and very modern Fred W. Smith Auditorium. It’s nice, but I will always miss the old Tucker Auditorium where we have had the judging since the late 70’s / early 80’s. I probably won’t be blogging much as I will be spending most of my time at POYi. But, here are a couple of pictures from the first week of judging…

POYi director Rick Shaw (white shirt) prepares the judges for another round of judging. This will be my view for the next 3 weeks…

It takes 5 computers to run the Pictures of the Year judging process– 1 computer to run the slide show, 1 computer to mark the votes, 1 computer for the caption reader, 1 for moderating the live viewing online, and 1 for the In/Out machine.

This little box decides the fate of tens of thousands of photos every year. Originally designed in the 1970’s, the voting machine received a complete makeover this year. But, we kept the very non-ergometric design. I think these things could have launched nuclear missiles in the cold war…

Last semester, I built a new website for myself in my Electronic Photo J class and I finally decided to make the link live. I have been using livebooks.edu for my portfolio, but that costs about $100 a year. I figure I can use that money for other purposes and this new website was a good enough replacement. I am in the process of redesigning my logo as well. Any constructive criticism is appreciated on the website.

There are too many puns that you could think of for this event. I photographed the PetSmart Wiener Dog Derby at Soulard Market Park in downtown St. Louis this weekend. It is meant to be a race for wiener dogs, but when the gates open, it usually results in 6 very confused dogs wandering around trying to escape the walls of the track. However, there were a couple of heats where all 6 dogs actually sprinted down the track and the winners got to go to the “Wiener’s Circle.” This was the “One Day Assignment” story for my Picture Story class. Once I edit everything, it will be a 5-picture, 5 points of view story in the classic LIFE magazine style. For now, these are some of my favorites.

A group of wiener dogs in the “Ballpark Franks” division sprint down the track towards their coaxing owners.

While some owners simply yell to coax their Dachshund down the track, others resort to treats, toys, and tennis balls to get their dog across the finish line.

In one of the fastest heats of the day, Dachshunds sprint down the makeshift race track. While most dogs emerged from the gates with confused looks, this heat ended with all 6 dogs sprinting across the finish line.

Unable to find her way off the race track, “Lucy” the Dachshund relieves herself mid-track before being scooped up by her owner.

Pat Moeslein proudly holds her dog Emilie after being declared the “Wiener” of the final race of the day in the “Cocktail Wienies” division.